Bigger Role For Cops Urged To Halt Suicides

Counselors Would Be At Stations

A suicide prevention organization is seeking to persuade police departments in Du Page County to allow it to establish around-the-clock counseling centers in police facilities.

But the efforts of David Hahn, a member of Partners in Psychiatry and an organizer of the Suicide Outreach Program, are drawing mixed reactions from police and some of the group`s supporters.

Partners in Psychiatry runs nine crisis intervention centers in police departments in Du Page, Kane and Cook Counties, Hahn said, offering counseling to people who ``need someone to talk to.`` The group also offers youth counseling services in 16 police districts in Chicago.

But the group has yet to try a 24-hour suicide prevention program with trained counselors to handle emergencies, Hahn said. The cost to police departments would be structured as either an hourly fee paid to counselors or a regular fee paid to the agency, Hahn said.

Hahn`s plan calls for around-the-clock counselers stationed in police departments. The service would provide immediate counseling for emergencies and referrals for psychiatric care. Hahn said that initial emergency consultation would be free and that regular counseling would be $20 to $50 an hour. Those who could not pay would be referred to other agencies.

In an effort to win over reluctant officials, Hahn has been conducting seminars at police stations in recent months. He said a big hurdle is the cost of the service.

He said an advantage of locating in a police station is that the station is open 24 hours a day and that officers possibly could take ``protective custody`` of a person who has attempted suicide but initially refuse to be treated.

Some police officials acknowledged the need for law enforcement personnel to learn more about suicide prevention. The problem of prevention is compounded by the question of how much should be done publicly.

``I think Dave`s efforts at suicide prevention are commendable,`` said Elmhurst Police Chief John Millner, ``but, personally, I have mixed feelings about it.``

The Elmhurst department has contracted Hahn during the last two years to provide crisis intervention and counseling service.

Millner is among experts and lay people who fear that publicizing a prevention program could prompt more people to attempt suicide.

``That`s a possibility,`` agreed Woodridge Police Chief Steve List.

``Whenever you advertise anything, you are convincing people to commit an act. But I believe the benefits of such a program will outweigh the risks.``

In the last decade, 701 suicides were committed in Du Page County, according to Coroner Richard Ballinger, including 43 in the first 10 months of 1990.

Those numbers might be low, Ballinger said. Du Page victims of attempted suicide sometimes are taken by county paramedics to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood. Victims who die there from self-inflicted injuries are listed as Cook County deaths, Ballinger said.

There were 494 suicides reported in 1990 in Cook County, according to officials at the medical examiner`s office.

But the number of victims taken to Cook County medical facilities from Du Page or other counties who died of suicide was not available.

Researchers long have debated whether a connection exists between discussing suicide prevention with young people and attempts.

There also is controversy over whether television accounts and dramatization of suicide methods can lead to an increase in attempts, experts said.

But there is little evidence suggesting harm from ``simply mentioning the word`` during advertisements for help centers, according to Dr. Jan Fawcett, chairwoman of the Department of Psychiatry at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke`s Medical Center in Chicago.

``I don`t think that advertising a suicide prevention program, as long as it`s done tastefully, will cause people to think more about taking their lives,`` she said.

``The worst-case scenario would be that someone would hear about it and commit suicide,`` Hahn said. ``But what is also worse is that a kid might not know that the services are there.``

The Suicide Outreach Program is one of several Community Outreach Programs run by Partners in Psychiatry, which has three offices in Chicago and six in the suburbs in addition to those counseling centers located in police departments.

Hahn said the next test for the suicide outreach program is to count the number of lives saved.

``If I can reduce that rate by only three, I`ve done a good job,`` he said.

Still some police officials question the need for such a program in their headquarters when suicide and other crisis intervention hot line services are available through some hospitals.

``My initial response,`` said Joliet Police Chief Dennis Nowicki, ``is that I don`t see any benefit to contracting a single agency to handle people who might try to commit suicide if there are already services out there that will take calls from us.``

The phone numbers for the Partners in Psychiatry crisis intervention service in Chicago is 312-927-2700. In the suburbs, it`s 708-827-7442.